Is a genius a remarkable musician who moves our spirits, an artist who creates beautiful paintings, a student who scores off the charts on an IQ test? Consider the other varieties of geniuses—those with amazing musical, artistic, athletic and intellectual talents. Were the Mozarts and Monets of the world born with their genius? Or did their environment shape who they became? Genes appear to have a big role in our intelce and talents. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have identified a specific gene that may help manage our skill level for organizing things logically. Although this is just one part of the mystery between our genes and intelce, the discovery certainly warrants some thought. This type of discovery may help explain why early studies in regard to intelce seem to favor genetics over environment when it comes to IQ. Those studies showed that even though some adoptive children grew up in an environment completely separate from their biological parents, their IQs were more related to theirs than those of the adoptive parents. However, that’s not the end of the story. As mentioned, the possible gene linked to organizing things logically is a piece of a much larger puzzle. That goes for intelce and other talents, as well. Most of the time, when society claims someone as a genius, it’s for multiple traits—personality, cognitive capacity, motivation—working together. As it turns out. these traits and others like them have been linked to strong hereditary (遗传的) underpinnings. Even though these beloved traits have a basis in genetics, that doesn’t mean they’re set in stone. According to cognitive psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman, a hereditary advantage for a trait that might lead us to great things isn’t a sure thing. Someone could be a gifted child if everything comes together early on, but genius might not emerge until later in life — and it can even weaken. This is where genetics and environment disagree. For those of us not hitting the genetic jackpot how much hope can environmental influences provide? A lot, especially when it comes to superior performance. Anders Ericsson of Florida State University Department of Psychology has found that even though our society’s high performers, such as Olympic athletes and first — chair musicians, seem born to their roles, we can be assured that knowledge, training and practice are at play. Limited access to programs, resources and even proper nutrition can be discouraging challenges.For example, if a child shows a small amount of athletic promise—perhaps he or she can kick a ball farther than his or her pals—that child may start kicking the ball more, hanging out with other kids who can kick a ball and joining a soccer team. The s in the child’s life might applaud success, leading to even more practice and achievement. On the other hand, the child who falls down the first time he or she kicks a ball might always be picked last for the team and be too discouraged to give it another try. Neither genetics nor environment appears to work alone. You can’t necessarily predict genius from birth. Who knows when and at what point your genius might develop? After all, what if the reason that child fell the first time he or she went to kick the ball wasn’t a lack of skill but slippery grass?49. What does the example of the child kicking a ball indicate?